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Attending the Blakesburg Fly-In, a First-Timer's Guide

Blakesburg... you often hear it uttered reverently by antiquers, but have never been to the Blakesburg Fly-In yourself. Make this year the year that you do attend! It isn't hard to do and it is well worth the trip.

I'm Russell Williams, an AAA member and the webmaster, and this guide is my attempt to help at planning for first-timers, with accumulated info from about 8 years of attendance. I usually fly my Ryan to the fly-in from Seattle, Washington, so it is a 5 or 6 day trip for me, and the trip is half the fun. However Blakesburg is not a big production with a bit of planning ahead. If you have any questions please email for advice, or call AAA HQ at Blakesburg.

Blakesburg requires Membership in the AAA

For a variety of reasons including insurance coverage, the AAA National Fly-in at Blakesburg is an invitational members-only event. There are numerous benefits to AAA membership and being able to attend the fly-in is one of the biggest. You can join on the spot if you didn't already join and pre-register. Pre-registration helps out with the planning so please do if you can.

Getting There

If you're flying in, Blakesburg is about halfway between Ottumwa (KOTM) and Albia in southeastern Iowa. Antique Airfield is a private strip charted on the Chicago sectional as IA27.

If you're not flying with a GPS, the best way to locate Antique Airfield is to go to Ottumwa Airport/VOR, then head south towards downtown Ottuwma. After you cross the river, hang a right and follow the 2 lane US Highway 34 towards the west. Stay on the south side of the road. About 10 miles to the west you should see a microwave relay tower to the south. Antique Airfield is about 1/2 mile north and east of that tower. The fly-in runway is oriented north/south, and aircraft parking is to the east of the runway.

See below for some tips on Antique Airfield flight procedures.

If you're driving in, the nearest commercial service is Des Moines (DSM). From there, rent a car and take Highway 5, the bypass on the south side of Des Moines, to the east and continue to Highway 163 South. From there it is 4 lanes all the way into Ottumwa on 163 and then US 63, a total of about an hour and half of driving.

If you're going directly to Antique Airfield, get off of Highway 63 at Eddyville and take county road T-61 due south to Blakesburg (this is Monroe Wapello Road, see below).

If you're heading into Ottumwa, for example to check into accomodations, to get to Antique Airfield continue on Highway 63 south into downtown Ottuma and cross the river. Continue straight onto Wapello Street through the city park, and the road then morphs into Ferry Street. Proceed straight through a residential section until Ferry Street dead ends at Mary Street. Turn right on Mary, and follow that road past a cemetery out of town to the west. The road turns into Bluegrass Road. Continue about 10 miles until you see Antique Airfield and the Airpower Museum on your right.

The member parking area is to the east of the field. Don't pull up to the main museum entrance as there is very limited parking available at that entrance.

Here's a handy link to Google Maps to get driving directions to Antique Airfield.

The scenic route from Des Moines is Highway 5 all the way to Albia, then Highway 34 to Monroe Wapello Rd (H47) to the crossroads of Blakesburg, then follow Bluegrass Road to the east until you hit Antique Airfield. It is more interesting to take Highway 5, but slower than what is now nearly all 4 lanes if you use the route above.

Accomodations

You've got two choices for accomodations - camping at Antique Airfield, or staying a local hotel.

For campers there are showers and facilities at the field. You can camp under the wing or pitch your tent closer to the woods. There are full meals at the field so you don't have to cook yourself. Camping at the field is a great experience and the cheapest way to attend.

There are a number of the standard chain hotels in Ottuwma, which you should be able to find via online travel booking sites, and a few not-so-chain lodges.

The chain hotels are exactly like other instances of their chain, so you be the judge. I usually stay at the Heartland Inn, which is a favorite of many fly-in attendees because it is cheap, has good AC in good rooms, and has complimentary continental breakfast. Other folks swear by the Indian Hills Inn. I've also stayed at the Hotel Ottumwa, which is the old grand hotel of the town and the biggest building in downtown. In its day I think it was quite the place, but now the rooms are sadly shabby. The Hotel Ottumwa does have a great breakfast cafe, though.

A word of caution - book in advance. Reservations for the fly-in often sell out the town several months ahead of time, although there are last minute cancellations so sometimes you can get lucky. One year I was tardy in making a reservation and the closest place I could find was a divey no-tell flophouse in Fairfield, which is a long drive and not much fun. It would have been better to camp, even though I'm not much of a camper!

Transportation

If you're camping at the field then you may not need transport, after all you arrived in an airplane, right? If you do want to go into town, first try getting a ride from a fellow attendee. There's almost always somebody going in or out during most hours of the day.

Some of the Hotels, such as Indian Hills Resort, also offer van transportation in shifts to and from the field. To my knowledge most of the hotels in Ottumwa do not offer transportation.

If you'd like your own car try Enterprise Rent-a-car in Ottumwa. During the peak arrival day on Friday Enterprise brings cars out to the field and has a staffer on site, so you don't have to go into town to pick it up. Otherwise they'll come pick you up but then you'll need to go back into Ottumwa to pick up the car. When leaving, you can leave the car in the lot at Antique Airfield and Enterprise will pick it up there on Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday. Make sure you book in advance.

The Enterprise office in Ottumwa has always been very helpful and friendly when I've dealt with them. The downside is that Enterprise is expensive and they will charge you for the Labor Day holiday since the office is closed and you cannot return the car on Sunday or the holiday. I still find it worthwhile to have a vehicle for uninhibited transportation.

Food

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available on the field, catered by the Hy-Vee (a local grocery store and catering company). The food is filling and satisfying but it won't win any gourmet awards.

During the day you can get bottled drinks, water and munchies from the Hy-Vee all day long. There are also usually some Blizzards or ice cream treats being sold over by the museum. It melts fast but sure is nice in the heat.

In the evenings after the sun goes down and flying is over the Pilot's Pub comes to life.

There are the usual selection of chain restuarants in Ottumwa if you have transportation to get there. Many pilots frequent the Applebees, which being a chain is the same as every other Applebees in the country.

Other than that, you'd have to ask a local resident about other restuarants to sample. I never spend enough time in town to find them myself, other than the Second Avenue Cafe for breakfast.

Days to Attend

The fly-in officially starts Wednesday at noon on the Wednesday before the Labor Day weekend, and goes until Monday afternoon. I think it really gets going Thursday afternoon. Most folks arrive on Friday and the field is pretty full by Friday evening. I don't recall ever having seen the field fill up completely, so don't worry about having a fly-in parking space.

Friday and Saturday are the busiest days for seeing people, planes and flying. Many folks are leaving by Sunday morning and Sunday is a more relaxed day. I was able to stay all day on Sunday for the first time last year and I enjoyed the slower pace. The Awards ceremony (aka the annual "They've Gone Home" ceremony) is on Sunday evening and it is worth sticking around for for the standup routine by Paul Berge the MC. Monday is cleanup and departure day.

Communications

Cell phone reception at Antique Airfield is not good. Do not count on your phone working. There's a phone for local calls in the HQ building.

Flight Operations at Antique Airfield

Antique Airfield is strictly see and avoid, and one of the best things about the fly-in is that many folks are actually flying! In fact, if you fly in please make a point of giving a ride to somebody else. You can probably get one in return in a plane that you'll never see anywhere else.

Since lots of folks are flying around, within about 10 miles of Antique Airfield put down the moving map GPS, turn off the radio, look outside the cockpit, and put your head on a swivel. It is traditional VFR flying. Be aware that barnstorming biplanes often do some impromptu acro, so be vigilant and look up/down as well as sideways.

There's no radio frequency and no need to call positions. Just look for the prevailing traffic pattern or lacking traffic fly over the field and look at the landing direction indicator in the center of the field. There's also a sock. Enter the pattern on the 45 and on final pay attention to the flagger stationed near the approach end of the runway. The flagger will give you a red or green flag. If you get the red flag then go around.

The reason the flagger is there is that the runway has a rise in the middle, so planes taxiing on the ground can't see the entire runway. In addition to the approach flagger, there's a flagger at midfield who can see both ends of the runway and make sure that taxi and landing accidents are avoided. The flaggers work together so all you really need to pay attention to on landing is the flagger at the approach end. Please pay attention to the flagger and be patient if you're waved off. There will be plenty of time at the event even if you have to go around.

Also be aware that many planes do low pass flybys. They use the normal pattern for fly-bys.

The fly-in runway is oriented north-south and is marked with cones. Landing to the south is a bit more common but you'll see both directions in use. The east-west runway is not used during the fly-in and is used for parking only.

Lastly, some notes about the field itself. Antique Airfield is all grass and is well mowed and maintained. It can be a bit short so watch your airspeed and touchdown point, especially if you're not used to flying out of short strips. Antique Airfield is officially 2350' feet long. Also remember that you won't get much as braking on the grass, although drag on the grass will slow you down faster than rolling on pavement. If you're really hardcore, fly in with a plane with a tail skid - stops quite quickly on grass once you dig in the skid!

The best bet if you're not familiar is to practice short and grass field operations in your local area before attending. If you've never had the good fortune to land on grass it is a wonderful experience.

To make things a little more interesting at Antique Airfield, if you're landing to the south, the runway touchdown zone starts lower than the rest of the field and slopes upward towards midfield. The runway levels out after midfield. Make sure you aim your landing at the touchdown zone and don't try to land midfield to avoid the low spot. Antique Airfield is too short for an unfamiliar pilot to pull this off, and pucker factor just isn't much fun. The touchdown area slopes off to the right as well so be prepared for some tricky bounces in a taildragger. There's nothing an experienced taildragger pilot can't easily handle.

If you're landing north, the runway is flat, wide, and an unobstructed approach.

Once you've landed, a 4-wheeler will come out to greet you and guide you into a parking spot. Antiques and classics are roughly grouped together for parking. While taxiing use care for pedestrians on the field. If in doubt, stop and shutdown. Be aware of your prop blast and don't try to rotate into a parking spot if you have neighbors on either side - ask them to help push instead.

If anything feels uncomfortable about your approach then go around! Lot of folks are probably admiring your plane but nobody will think the less of you for going around. Also don't worry about the peanut gallery, they're almost all pilots and they understand. As my friend Addison Pemberton says, if you can't handle having one out of five landings be a bad one then you shouldn't be flying (or criticizing somebody else flying) an antique airplane.

If things aren't working out then consider the alternates. Ottumwa (KOTM) is about 10 miles east north-east of Antique Airfield. Albia is about 10 miles to the west. Either is a paved standard GA field good for an alternate, and I'm sure that somebody will come pick you up from either location if you called HQ and asked for a ride. The fly-in crew would much rather see you on foot than see a hurt person or bent airplane at Antique Airfield.

There's gas available at Antique Airfield. There are also plenty of people with mechanical experience and probably the world's highest concentration of expertise in antique aircraft engines and airframes should you need some assistance with oiling, greasing, valve adjustments, or occasionally impromptu repairs. It happens to everybody, and I've learned to always bring my toolbag on a 3000 mile round-trip! I've even been known to get some repair parts from the Ace Aircraft Supply store in Ottumwa. Ace is the place.

You will need to bring your own tie-downs and ropes, and make sure to use them while at the field. If a thunderstorm happens by it can be a little windy. All aircraft must be tied down at sundown.

On departure, again pay attention to the flagger especially at midfield. If you're lined up departing to the south you cannot see past midfield and there may still be somebody on the runway ahead of you. Be aware of the temperature (usually hot), the fact that grass is slower to accelerate on than pavement, and your fuel load. Since my Ryan is almost always maxed out on weight during Blakesburg trips, especially after picking up many pounds of assorted junk/treasures at the fly-market, I plan to leave Antique Airfield with about 1/4 tank of gas. I make a short hop over to Ottumwa to take on a full tank for the first cross-country leg home. Again no sense having pucker factor on takeoff.

This all may sound scary but Antique Airfield can and is very safely managed. There are probably several thousand landings every year during the fly-in weekend without incident. Practice makes perfect, and use care.

What to do At the Fly-in?

The Blakesburg fly-in is a low-key affair. There are lots of people who love antique airplanes and grassroots aviation walking around and talking. I meet friends here every year that I usually don't see in person for the rest of the year. There are also lots of people flying, either going up in a friend's plane or giving some rides to folks you've just met.

You won't find loud announcers, high-energy airshows, jet-powered trucks "racing" airplanes, exploding pyro effects, and brightly lit vendor booths where the staff all has matching logo polo shirts. If you want that type of flyin I recommend Oshkosh, which has its merits. You will get fly-bys, and the occasional impromptu acro demonstration. But what draws me back to Blakesburg every year are the people and the casual feel that I think captures grassroots aviation at its finest.

What I like to do:

This is obviously not a complete list. Hope to see you at Blakesburg!